


For truth is always strange; Stranger than fiction.

by la_chicas_mix



Category: Schitt's Creek (TV) RPF
Genre: Fanfiction, Idiots in Love, M/M, Texting, ao3 - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-12
Updated: 2020-05-14
Packaged: 2021-03-02 17:01:19
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,436
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24150229
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/la_chicas_mix/pseuds/la_chicas_mix
Summary: What happens when Dan discovers a website full of fan fiction based on David and Patrick? And what does Noah feel when they keep digging and realise that some stories are actually written about *them*?
Relationships: Dan Levy/Noah Reid
Comments: 16
Kudos: 33





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is meta, I know… but I was talking to a friend about a famous quote from Chris Colfer when he said “thanks for always drawing abs on me when you draw me naked” and it triggered this whole thing below. Anyway, hope you enjoy it.
> 
> Set probably at the end of recording season 5 or 6. They are both single in this RPF. It is strange but it is fiction 😊  
> \--  
> First chapter from Dan's POV. Second one will be Noah's.  
> 

Dan was lounging in his apartment on a lazy Sunday afternoon. It’d been such a long week, with wrapping up filming the last episode of the season, saying good bye to all the cast and staff and settling back home, where he hadn’t been for weeks on end. He really needed a rest, so he made a cup of coffee, grabbed the remote, and sat back on his sofa ready to wash away the afternoon with some low maintenance reality TV program or something similar that wouldn’t require for him to engage his brain.

He was lost in a reverie of mindless afternoon cable TV when his phone beeped in the room next door, announcing a new text message. He considered for a second whether to leave it for now and get back to his television program, but his attention had been shaken off now, so he got up and checked the incoming texts.

They were from Emily.

E:"Daaaaaaan!!! You need to check this out!!!"

E:"You're going to freak out! Don't freak out!!! '🤣😅😂"

He waited for a minute longer, wondering what kind of crazy obscure website she’d found now, or perhaps it was another meme using one of the show’s catchphrases. She knew how much Dan loved seeing people using those catchphrases and she was always forwarding anything she caught on social media in case he hadn’t seen it yet.

"<https://archiveofourown.org/tags/Schitt's%20Creek/works>"

But the link she’d sent was not to an obscure gossip website, or to a meme on social media. But to a fan-fiction website. _Well, this is new?_

Dan clicked on the link and had a look. He had never heard of “Archive of our own” in his life. He obviously knew that fan fiction existed. But he thought that it was a bit more focused on manga, anime and more fantasy-based worlds. He never imagined in a million years that people wrote fiction about _his_ show. _His_ characters. _His_ world.

He scrolled through the first page and examined the list of works… There was a bit of everything. Complete stories, work in progress, podfics, drawings… And the tags. Fucking hell… some of those tags were explicit! He didn’t dare clicking into any stories in particular. He needed to calm the fuck down first. This was overwhelming. Amazing but overwhelming.

D:"OMFG Emily!! That's amazing! Where did you get this from?" 

E:"A friend sent it to me"  
E:"There's a story about Stevie being in love with Twyla that is just freaking beautiful"  
E:"I've been sobbing for the last 10 mins" - Emily replied back.

He kept on scrolling and scrolling. There were hundreds of pages and he didn’t even know where to start. He should read a couple, right? At least one. Definitely one – but what should he go for? A David/Patrick one, for sure. But should he dare look at one of the mature ones? “No, let’s start easy” he thought to himself.

He ended up clicking on one rated for General Audiences and it turned out to be really funny. The story had completely captured the spirit of the characters, their moods and colloquialisms. It told the story of how David and Patrick had navigated the awkwardness of the first few days of being co-workers, before both of them had had the courage to show how keen they were to be together. The story was humorous but moving. Sarcastic but gripping.

Dan finished reading it, realising that he had a wide smile on his face the whole time, and he wiped a small tear from his eye when he realised that he was actually welling up. This made him so happy. So ecstatic. He needed to share it with Noah.

D:"Have you seen this?"  
D:"OMG. It's fucking hilarious 🤣"

N:"Seen what?"

D:"Wait, I'll send you a link. You're going to laugh so hard"

N:"Come on! I'm curious now!"

Dan sent the link to that particular story to Noah. He knew Noah would appreciate it too. Obviously, he wasn’t as invested in the show or the characters as him, _it was his baby_ , but he knew Noah had his same sense of humour and would be able to see the fun side of at least this particular story.

Dan gave Noah some time to read it, but kept looking at his phone, waiting for a reply.

The ominous three dots kept appearing and disappearing from his screen.

Finally, a few more minutes later another message pinged on Dan’s screen.

N:"Well... that was something"  
N:"Not sure it's that funny, Daniel"

Dan was confused. He couldn’t read the meaning behind those texts. Had Noah really not found it funny? Was he somehow offended? What could have triggered him? Now Dan was mad. He could not understand what could have made his friend react like that. How could he have read the situation so _wrong_?

Another text message came through, though.

Another link.

N:"<https://archiveofourown.org/tags/Schitt's%20Creek%20(TV)%20RPF/works>"

Dan clicked on it and all of a sudden realised why Noah had sounded so uptight and reserved in his response. It took Dan only a few minutes and a couple of clicks to grasp that this was different. This was not about fictional characters – this was about _them_. Real People Fiction.

Dan put his phone down for a second while his breathing stabilised. He closed his eye and shook his head gently while trying to steady his thoughts. He couldn’t bear the thought of reading one of those explicit stories. No way. He was too scared. Too scared to see how random people would have been able to guess his most intimate secrets, his private desires. Wants and needs that he had managed to keep under wraps since the very first time that he had set eyes on that wonderful guy that was Noah Reid.

D:"FUCK".


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **Rating changed to Mature**
> 
> I thought this would be a short-ish chapter like the one before. But I started writing and almost 3.5k words later, here we are.
> 
> I have really enjoyed writing this one - I hope you enjoy reading it too!

Noah did not know what to do with himself.

Getting that link from Dan sent him down a rabbit hole. It had brought to life many a hidden feeling that Noah had been trying to fight for the last two years. It had not been easy, working so near _him_. But he had managed to keep it professional, even during the scenes that required more closeness, more touching, more kissing. The nights out with the cast, the get togethers and the after parties were the worst. Those moments when Noah couldn’t hide behind Patrick anymore to steal a caress, to hold him for that extra second longer, to furtively approach the area below his earlobe to inhale his intoxicating scent.

As he received the link, he had a quick glance over, scanning through the words but not really reading much of it. If Dan said it was funny, Noah knew it would be. But he was curious about this website, about this place where apparently people were writing about David and Patrick? So, he clicked back on the name of the author of the fic and found that they had also written on this other fandom called Schitt’s Creek RPF. Filled with interest, he checked it out. And then he saw it.

Relationship: Dan Levy/Noah Reid.

SHIT.

His first impression was quite similar to Dan’s. He noticed the tags – fuck, those tags. How could he be this affected to see his and Dan’s names next to tags like smut, anal fingering, and blow jobs? Every single one of those words being the exact things that had been making him weak at the knees, making him lose sleep, and hardening his cock like a rock at the simple image in his head. Yes, he had those images burning into his head constantly. He had not yet managed to find a consistent way to shake them off. 

He read one. The first one that that jumped at him on the page. And his world turned upside down in one quick minute. People were writing about _them_. Not just about David and Patrick, but about _them_. The real Dan and Noah. Doing things that he had been imagining were real for far too long. Dan and Noah being together, kissing and touching, staring into their eyes with more than friendship and fondness. Lust. The lust he had been repressing since that first handshake – the off camera one, the one that meant something more.

Had Dan known when he sent the link? Had he not realised? Had he not been obvious enough all this time?

Noah did not know what to do with himself. Let alone with the phone currently being nervously swapped from hand to hand. And that’s when he decided to text Dan back. “Not sure it’s that funny, Daniel”. Fuck this. He needed to see it too.

He had a very urgent need to sit down. He was feeling dizzy from the information and sense overload that had hit him like a truck in the last 10 minutes. Ten minutes isn’t enough time to digest any of this. He couldn’t quite tell if the gut-punching feeling he had in his stomach was nerves or excitement. He was a bit embarrassed to have felt his cock going hard as he read those delicious lines, the more descriptive ones, that put into eloquent words the images that had lived in his head all this time.

He turned his phone off and put it away for now. He needed to disconnect. He didn’t want to see what, if anything, Dan had to say about what he must have just seen. The embarrassment. The awkwardness. He would relax for a bit, clear his mind and would think what to do once he had stopped spiralling.

A couple of hours later, after he had distracted himself with a good dose of Cohen and watching an old Jays game, he resolved to turn his phone back on. A small string of messages and a voicemail from Dan were waiting for him on his home screen.

D:”FUCK”  
D:”Hey, you there?”  
D:”Everything ok?”  
D:”Noah, you know it’s fiction, right?”

D:”Just tried calling but went straight to answerphone. Call me when you get this”

 _Voicemail_ : “Hey Noah. Talk to me. I want to know what’s going through your mind.”

Out of all the racing thoughts scrambling in his head, calling Dan was the last thing he had thought about and even now, after considering it for a couple of minutes, he wasn’t even sure what he would say to him. How could he justify this internal turmoil? Granted, Dan had absolutely no idea about these thoughts but somehow, he didn’t want to have to lie to him. Would he be brave enough to speak to him or had his actions already betrayed him?

Before he could regret anything, he pressed the dial button.

“Hi”

“Hey! You alright? You went silent! What happened?”

Noah couldn’t help the stream of consciousness that came out of his mouth at its own will. It’s like he had no power over the words. He had no power over anything when it came to Dan Levy.

“Yeah nothing, sorry for not replying sooner. Listen Dan, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to sound rude or anything. It’s just… just that reading some of those stories hit a bit too close to home and I freaked out…”

That’s it – the cat is out of the bag, Noah thought. The ball was on Dan’s court – not that Noah was ever going to say that to him, not with those words at least. The running joke of using sports metaphors with him had run its course and was no longer funny.

“Hang on – what… what _hit too close to home_? What in particular?” Noah couldn’t quite distinguish what this new tone in Dan’s voice was. He wasn’t sure he had heard his voice sound like that before – like it was masking something, hiding some meaning behind the words.

Did Noah have to spell it out? Maybe that’s what it was.

“The way people write about _us_ , Dan. Like we’re living a parallel David and Patrick storyline. The way they describe my feelings for you and hit the nail in the head every. fucking. time.” Noah’s voice had risen a notch higher than normal. He wasn’t shouting, but the words were now screaming in his head.

Silence at the end of the line.

“Dan. Daniel. Are you there… Sorry, I shouldn’t have said anything. Gotta… gotta go. Speak later”

The words came out fast, stumbling over each other, and Noah hung up without giving Dan a chance to retort. He turned the phone off again, headed to his bedroom, slammed the door shut, laid down on his bed and started sobbing.

The minutes passed. The hours flew. Two days later there was a knock on the door.

Noah struggled to hear the knocking at the beginning. He had been almost completely out for 48 hours and he had not bothered to turn his phone back on at any point, so surely he knew that people were going to start worrying about his wellbeing and whereabouts.

A few more knocks, louder this time.

With a heavy heart he managed to peel his face off the comforter. He rubbed his eyes open and checked the time on his bedside clock. Tuesday. Three o’clock in the afternoon. Thank goodness he had nowhere else to be.

“Okay!!” he shouted as another knock resounded between his ears as he approached the door.

Reluctantly he unlocked the door to find Dan standing there, looking dishevelled like he never allows anyone to see him, with a worried look on his face.

“Daniel? What are you doing here?”

“What am _I_ doing here? …WHAT AM I DOING HERE? You haven’t answered your fucking phone for TWO days Noah. I thought something had happened to you!”

Noah looked sheepishly down to his bare feet while moving away from the threshold, implicitly allowing Dan to come into his home.

Noah noticed Dan checking out his surroundings. This wasn’t the first time that Dan had come to Noah’s apartment, but it was probably the first time that they had been together alone, and sober, and vulnerable after hinting at unspeakable secrets over the phone just hours ago.

“Take a seat Dan. Make yourself at home. Do you mind if I go and freshen up for a minute?”

“No, yeah. Go ahead. Is it ok if I grab a drink?”

“Of course, help yourself to anything you fancy. There’s red in that rack or spirits on that cupboard there”

Before he turned around to start heading towards the bathroom for the world’s fastest shower, Noah’s gaze lingered on Dan for one extra second. Despite the initial shock of seeing him at his door, Noah could feel the relief settling in his body. He had yearned to see Dan since they said goodbye at the wrap up party a couple of weeks ago, and he hadn’t known how much his body had ached to see him again, to have him near.

When he came out of the shower, he grabbed a towel and put it around his waist. He approached the sink and rubbed his hand on the mirror clearing it of any remaining fog. He stared intently into his own eyes, looking for an answer to the question that had been roaming his head since he opened that door: _What do I do now?_ But no answer came to him. He would have to play this by ear.

He got dressed quickly, carelessly, and got back out into the living room where Dan was waiting, lounging back on the couch, almost empty glass of red wine in his hands.

“Let me refill that for you”, said Noah, hurrying towards the direction of the kitchen.

“No, no need. This is my second already and I don’t want to have this conversation drunk”

“Ha. We both know that you need more than two glasses of wine to get you drunk, Daniel”. Noah’s clumsy attempt at humour fell flat with Dan, who seemed to be eyeing him too intently and was making Noah nervous.

“Noah. Stop. Please stop pacing around. Come and sit”

He did stop. He stopped on his tracks, breathing out heavily as he looked at his sitting options. He could sit on one of the armchairs, facing Dan from a safe distance. Or he could squeeze himself right next to him in the couch, close enough to feel the warmth radiating from his body.

He chose the first, and safe, option.

“So…”

“So”

Who would talk first? Who would have to audacity to say the one thing no one wanted to say first? After another minute of silence and awkward stares, Noah resolved to take that first step.

“Listen Dan, I’m sorry about what I said on the…”

“Shhh” Dan interrupted. “Don’t.”

Dan was gently shaking his head, half smirking and raking his brains for what to say next.

“Just tell me, is it true? What you said? Is it true?”

There it was again, that tone in his voice that Noah had noticed during their call a couple of days before. That tone with _hope_? Was it hope that Noah had perceived?

He looked up for a second to look straight into Dan’s soft eyes. He needed to be able to read his face. His posture. What were his hands doing? Was he playing with his rings? Were his feet gently tapping on the floor? Not that his answer was going to change, but he was holding out for a clue, anything, that would give him an indication on how to proceed.

“Yep.” His answer was merely a whisper, delivered while looking down, not wanting Dan to see the mortification in his eyes. He closed his eyes, dipped his head and put his hands over his face, no desire whatsoever to see whatever was about to happen. Would Dan feel sorry for him? Would he be angry? What’s a normal reaction to your co-worker telling you that he’s got feelings for you, when in theory he’s not even gay?

Head still dipped, hands still on his face, suddenly Noah felt Dan’s hands on him.

“Hey, look at me. Come one, it’s ok. Look at me”

Dan’s voice was gentle, soothing, comforting. It had that power over him.

Dan smoothly removed Noah’s hands off his face with his and made him look up. When he finally managed to open his eyes, Noah saw Dan kneeling in front of him, with his face twisted and looking up, trying to find a gap to see into his eyes.

Dan’s hand came up to Noah’s face, carefully brushing his thumb across his cheek, as if removing a tear. Was he crying? He must have been, because Dan’s hand now felt wet under the touch.

“Noah… I….”

“Don’t say it Dan. Please spare me the pain. It’s bad enough like it is”

“No. Listen, I… I read the stories too… They are so fucking accurate, it scares me too”

Noah’s head snapped up in an abrupt movement, his eyes widening and dilating by the second. Searching for Dan’s eyes, seeking a hint that would clue him into what was happening right now. What had he said?

“What?!”

“Fuck Noah… I…”

But Dan couldn’t finish that sentence, because Noah had grabbed Dan’s face and tentatively pushed his lips against his. If Dan’s words, Dan’s stuttering, meant what he thought it meant, then he had to give this a try. He had to follow his impulses and trust that this little barrage would be well received.

And it was. Very well received.

They came apart for one second, their faces standing still within inches of each other, their eyes scrutinising every movement, every twitch, every shudder. When they found no sign of regret or guilt, they joined their lips together again, but without hesitation or caution this time. Their mouths searching each other like the long-lost lover they had been missing for years. With passion that neither had known the other had.

Noah moved his lips down to Dan’s neck, regaling himself on that scent he had craved and missed so much, nipping at his skin like wanting to transfer all that smell onto him. Dan couldn’t stop breathing out little moans that were driving Noah crazy. He had never heard such exquisite sounds coming out of a human being and he wanted to do whatever he had to do to hear those sounds again and again and again.

But Noah was pulled out of this magnificent dream instantly, when Dan detached himself, pushing Noah away.

“Wait. We… we need to talk”

“Now?!” The frustration in Noah’s voice was evident, but rather than finding it endearing, Dan furrowed his brow in annoyance.

“Yes Noah. NOW. I need to know what’s going on. What is happening here. What THIS is.”

Dan relaxed his tone as he noticed Noah’s reddened face.

“THIS is the most amazing thing that I could have ever wished for, Noah. I’ve wanted this since I laid my eyes on you all those years ago. I just need to be sure that we are on the same page. Are we on the same page?”

“If by being on the same page you mean that I’ve wanted you and craved you since the first time I got my eyes on you, then yes Dan, we are on the same fucking page. You… you are the most amazing person I’ve ever known, and the last two years have been real tough. Working so closely with you, and falling in love little by little each day, as I got to know you more and got to see what a wonderful person you are inside and out. How caring, how creative, how kind. How fucking sexy. I’ve been head over heels for you since day one. Scared to shit to make any of my feelings known in case it would spoil our friendship, because I wanted to have a relationship with you – whatever that relationship was, even if it was just as friends, rather than losing you… Is that the same page?”

As the words were coming out of Noah’s mouth, Dan couldn’t help but start sobbing. Noah felt guilty for making Dan break down like this, with this shitty speech that surely he should have prepared at some point over the past two years, rather than make his brain come up with something on this vulnerable spot, yeah?

“Why did you never say anything?”

“Weren’t you listening? Because I needed to have you in my life even if it meant just as friends. I couldn’t afford to lose you”

“But… I also wanted you… We could have…”

“So why didn’t YOU say anything?”

“I never thought you were interested. I didn’t know about your change in _preferences_ ”

“So _are_ we on the same page?”

“The same page, the same paragraph, the same fucking line”

They got up from where they had been. Noah on the armchair, Dan kneeling in front of him. And they hugged. It was a strong embrace, the type you see in the arrival areas at airports when two people who love each other finally get their hands on each other.

Noah walked Dan back and pushed him against the wall. Their kisses had become passionate and lustful. Eager and impatient. Noah run his hands under Dan’s sweater, fingers running across his waist, caressing Dan’s chest, Dan’s side, Dan’s back. Dan Dan Dan. In return, Dan brought his hands up to hold Noah’s head, manoeuvring his fingers through his thick, curly hair.

They moaned into each other, at each touch of their skin, at each graze. Moans that tasted like their scent. Hips grinding, rocking carelessly, disregarding any consequences that rubbing their hard cocks together might have – even over the clothes.

Noah reached under Dan’s sweater and started lifting it, making Dan raise his arms for better ease of removal. He dropped the sweater on the floor and stood there, taking in the magnificent view in front of him. He had seen Dan shirtless many times before – and although the temptation had always been there – now he actually had permission to ogle. And to touch as much as he wanted. And he wanted to touch everywhere. His neck, his pecs, his nipples, his abs, his biceps, his elbows…

Once Dan’s top was on laying motionless on the floor, all bets were off. The desire and hunger that run through both of them, overpowered them in a way that completely made them abandon any sense of composure.

Next were Dan’s pants. Noah reached to the button and zipper, and undid them without a flourish, systematically, like something he did every day. The sight of Dan’s thick and hard cock caught him unprepared though, and Noah left out an embarrassingly needy moan. The chuckle that came out of Dan didn’t help.

“Hey. Stop that! I’m allowed to look!”

“You’re allowed to more than just looking” Dan snapped back in a wanting voice.

Noah finished pulling the pants and briefs down to Dan’s ankles, in one hasty motion, dropping to his knees in front of him. The display in front of him was breathtaking. He was cracking with desire.

And… It… it was _good_. It was big in his mouth and a struggle at first. But is was good. _So good._ The first blowjob that Noah had ever given was actually fucking amazing.

“I can’t believe you’re still fucking fully dressed. How did that happen?”

“I’ve got skills. What you gonna do about it?” Noah laughed.

“Come here you filthy animal – my turn”

“I thought you’d never ask”

A while later, once they had quenched their lust, they found themselves laying in bed naked, hugged into each other, gently caressing one another, still exploring every inch of their bodies – but relaxed, with no rush. They knew they have plenty of time ahead of them, for this and more.

Noah reached out to the bedside table where his phone had been left earlier and turned it on. He ignored all the messages coming through and went directly to his safari app, where the Archive of Our Own website was still open, on the RPF fandom.

“Can I read you a bedtime story?”

“Right. I don’t think we’ll be able to do much sleeping if you read one of those”

They laughed into a gentle kiss.

“So, these people think they have figured us out pretty well – let’s see how much they actually got right.”

“We can tick off the blowjob tag. What’s next?”


End file.
